Curious | Playful | Talkative. With a tuxedo-looking coat and floofy white slippers, you’d expect the snowshoe cat to be a prim and proper kitty-cat. However, with a curious mind and extroverted personality, these kitties are known for getting their paws into mischief. Snowies are a rare breed of cat but are adored by all who know them. If you’re thinking about adopting a snowshoe cat or want to know more about what makes these chaotic kitties so special, read on to find out more!

Snowshoe Cat Basics:

Average Lifespan: 14 – 20 years

Average Weight: 3 – 6kg

Colours: Colourpoint Colouration.

Shedding: Low – Moderate

Origins of the Snowshoe Cat

The Snowshoe Cat is a young breed that came about by accident in the 1960s when a cat breeder from the USA named Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, bred a special litter of Siamese kitties. 

Amongst this litter were three little cuties, all with white socks. Dorothy liked the mixed colouring of these kittens, all having a Siamese colourpoint coat (lightly coloured body with dark extremities) only with white coloured “snow shoes”. 

She decided to start breeding these cats with domestic shorthairs that had tuxedo coats to create a cat with an even more unique coat pattern. The result was the snowshoe cat, a medium-sized kitty with a pointed colouration with tuxedo markings and white feet.

Eventually, snowshoes made their way to the UK in the 1980s. However, their popularity wavered in the early days and by 1998 there was only one breeder left in the UK. Fortunately, a breeder named Mollie Southall dedicated herself to resurrecting this lovable floof, working hard to establish a breed club and eventually gaining GCCF pedigree breed recognition in 2004.

What Do Snowshoe Cats Look Like?

All Snowshoe kittens are born almost completely white, with their iconic tuxedo markings and dark points gradually coming in with age.

When snowshoe cats are between one and two years of age, they form their pointed colouration like their Siamese relatives with a dark-coloured face and tail. They also develop a tuxedo-looking coat on their chest with a white bib and socks as well as a white “V” shape around their nose and mouth. Their points are indeed dark, other than their feet, and they can range in colours from black, seal, brown, cinnamon, cream, tortoiseshell, and tabby.

Snowshoe cats are medium in size with an athletic build like the Siamese, only with a more rounded chubby face, perfect for smushing and cuddling.

Snowshoe Cat Purrsonality

Like delicate snowflakes, no two snowshoe cats are the same. However what they all share is a curious mind and an inner sense of self confidence. These purrsonality traits make them playful but at times they can be quite chaotic. 

Snowshoe cats are extremely extroverted, inheriting this along with their chatty disposition from their Siamese lineage. Although they love to talk and won’t think twice before meowing for more food, treats, or attention, their voice is softer than their Siamese cousins, making them a better choice for more sensitive furmilies.

Snowshoe cats make great playmates, revelling in time spent playing with toys such as feather wands with their pawrents. With a strong sense of curiosity, snowies love to explore, so make sure to set them up with a cat-friendly climbing frame or a cat tunnel to keep their intelligent minds busy and stop them from getting into too much mischief. 

Special mention should be made for watching them during the festive season as they have been known to pull down Christmas trees or snag low-lying ornaments when their curiosity gets the better of them!

Like Siamese kitties, snowshoe cats form strong bonds with their hoomans. With a friendly temperament, they also make great additions to large furmilies with children and other fur babies including doggies.

Are Snowshoe Cats Hypoallergenic?

Despite having a short, dense coat, snowshoe cats are not hypoallergenic. They have a low to moderate shedding level which is great news for your black jeans, however, probably won’t do much for those unfortunate hoomans who get the sniffles around kitties. Even hairless Sphynx cats are not hypoallergenic, as cat allergies don’t come from the fur itself, rather the Fel d1 proteins that are found in the their skin and saliva.

Snowshoe Cat Feeding Requirements

Like all kitties, snowshoe cats are meat-loving obligate carnivores so thrive on eating high-quality cat food that is rich in animal protein. Animal protein contains high levels of an essential amino acid for cats known as taurine. Cats get all of their taurine from meat and can develop eye conditions and heart disease if they are deficient in it. So, making sure the food you’re feeding your kitty is high in good quality animal meat is crucial. This can be in the form of a complete dry cat food, complete wet cat food or a mix of the two, it’s totally up to you and your kitty’s preference! 

Scrumbles, The Pawfect Match For Snowshoes

If your kitty is on the hunt for a delicious dinner that’s nutritionally dense and high in animal meat, check out our collection of gut-friendly cat food. 

Made from 100% natural and gut-friendly ingredients and high levels of human-grade animal meat, all of our cat food recipes are sure to satisfy the obligate carnivore within and maintain optimal health.

We also add gut-loving prebiotics or probiotics to all of our dry cat food, wet cat food, and cat treats to soothe sensitive stomachs, improve digestibility and make for an easy clean-up of your cat’s pretty poops at the kitty litter. 

With equally pretty cat poop bags available, you can make Scrumbles your one-stop shop for everything cat health and happiness!

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